STANLEY CUP: Crawford, Rask both in contention for Conn Smythe

Sunday, June 16, 2013

By MIKE ASHMOREFor The Trentonian

CHICAGO — Corey Crawford or Tuukka Rask would happily settle for the Conn Smythe instead of the Vezina Trophy.

Although neither goaltender was a finalist for the award, which was handed out to Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky prior to Game 2 on Saturday, both have put themselves in contention for what essentially amounts to the Playoff MVP trophy with excellent performances all postseason long.

But it’s on the big stage where both have shone the brightest. Rask has stopped 92 of the 97 shots he’s faced in 185 minutes and 56 seconds of Stanley Cup Final action, and his .944 save percentage leads all netminders in the postseason. After the game, many players pointed to his effort in the first period, in which he turned aside 18 Blackhawks shots despite facing a barrage for the entire 20 minutes — a time in which his teammates could muster just four shots of their own — to turning the momentum decidedly in their favor going forward.

“I think we gave them four shots in the second, four shots in the third, maybe two or three in the overtime...we at least gave him a little bit of an opportunity to catch his breath again. That first period, like I said, was extremely hard for him. But thankfully our guys rewarded him with that effort by being a lot better in front of him for the rest of the game.”

Crawford, of course, is no slouch either. His 1.72 goals against average is .01 better than Rask’s 1.73, and it actually went down despite the loss.

“He was great, he kept us in there,” said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville.

“They had some great looks in overtime around the net. (He) stands tall, finding that puck, gives us a chance.”

***41-year-old Bruins forward Jaromir Jagr, in his first Stanley Cup Final since 1992, seemed to turn the clock back 21 years with an impressive performance in Game 2. He registered a team-high seven shot attempts and logged 20:49 of ice time in Boston’s 2-1 win.

“He was strong,” said teammate Dennis Seidenberg. “He had one or two posts. Once he gets in that offensive zone, he’s very strong on the puck and it’s tough to take it off of him. He had some big chances and had a great night.”